


Forbidden

by Willowsong86



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29024982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowsong86/pseuds/Willowsong86
Summary: What happens when a pure blood, driven Slytherin, falls for a Gryffindor? Star-crossed lovers, Hogwarts style.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Welcome to Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my lovely Slytherin wife](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+lovely+Slytherin+wife).



“Anything off the trolley?” a cheery voice rang out through the train car.

“None for me,” the youngest of the compartment’s passengers grimaced.

“Nervous, sis? You’re looking a bit green!” teased a lanky boy, tossing his mop of blonde hair out of his face as he stood up, coins in hand. “Licorice wand for me - you sure you don’t want one?” he turned to the younger blonde girl, who shook her head, unamused.

The other teens sitting with them snickered, one getting out of his seat to buy a twirling toffee.

“Oh, come on,” the blond boy sat back down across from his younger sister, nudging her with his foot. “Quit moping, this year is gonna be great. You’re gonna get into Slytherin, I’m gonna get that beater position on the Quidditch team. Wipe that nauseated look off of your face, you’ve been talking my ear off all summer about how excited you are.”

“I am excited. Just also a little anxious. You’re sure I’ll get into Slytherin?”

“How could you not. You’ve been dreaming about becoming the Minister of Magic since you were five.”

“Just like great-great-grandmother Josephine,” she mustered a little smile.

“Exactly. You’re the most annoyingly driven person I know. And I mean that in the best way.” He added, flashing a cheesy grin. She rolled her eyes, but did actually feel more relaxed.

“Right, well, I’ve gotta join my mates,” he said, as the group of older students stood up.

“What? You’re not going to walk in with me?”

“I told you, first years enter separately. You’ll be fine, just follow the hoard of other worried, lost looking kids. See you at the Slytherin table!” he shouted behind as he hurried off with his friends.

The step off the Hogwarts Express seemed much larger than the step on had been. The already nervous, pale first year stumbled on her way out, dropping her satchel, and falling to her knees.

“Here.” A hand jutted in front of her face. The girl on the ground noticed uneven, half bitten nails, with bits of blue polish that had not quite worn off. She took the hand, blushing fiercely. Once she was fully upright, the other girl quickly started picking up the items she had dropped. After handing over the possessions and an awkward quick smile, the girl turned, with a swish of her dark, long hair, a glint of the silver and amethyst clip holding it back, and disappeared into the crowd.

Stunned, the other girl tried to call out, “hey, wait!” but it was too late. Gathering her composure, she followed the sea of students toward the great hall. Her icy grey eyes scanned the crowd for the dark hair, and spotted the purple stones just a couple rows ahead. Eventually, she managed to squeeze through the tightly packed students, all anxiously waiting for the brief welcome and instructions from Professor McGonagal.

“Hey,” she whispered, nudging the girl. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you.”

The dark haired girl stared wide eyed. “Oh,” she stammered, “that’s...okay. No problem.”

“I’m Evelyn Greengrass,” she held out her hand earnestly.

The other girl’s dark brown eyes softened, and she warmly returned the greeting with a handshake.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Astra Bennett.”

“Can you believe we’re here? Finally, at Hogwarts?”

“No, it almost seems like a dream. It almost looks like one, too.” Astra replied, taking in her surroundings.

“I’ve been imagining this day for years.” Evelyn sighed.

“Except for the falling off the train part, I’m sure.” Astra said with a sly smile.

“Hilarious.” Evelyn replied, giving the other girl a light shove. She was trying to think of something witty to retort, when the chattering crowd hushed. Both girls looked forward, to see a bespectacled woman in emerald green robes glide in front of the crowd. Evelyn nudged the other girl excitedly.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” she began, loud enough for everyone to hear, but still calm and controlled, clearly not one to shout over a group of eleven year olds. “In a moment, we will walk through these doors and you will be sorted into your houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you attend school here, your house will be like your family. Victories will earn you points, while breaking the rules will lose you points. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the House Cup.”

Gracefully lifting her hand, she turned and motioned for the students to follow her. Hushed chattering commenced as they filed into the great hall.

“I wonder what house I’ll end up in,” Astra mused, “how about you?”

“Me? Oh I’m going to be in Slytherin.”

“You sound pretty sure of yourself.”

“Well, my parents and my brother are all Slytherin. Plus, if you want to get anywhere in life, you know, make something of yourself, well, it just helps.” Evelyn explained.

“Hmm.” Astra nodded

“What about you? Which house are you hoping for?”

“I’m not sure, really. My mum was a Ravenclaw, but I don’t think I’m quite as bright as she is. My father is American, actually, so he went to Ilvermorny - Pukwudgie, and doesn’t really care which house I end up in. I was hoping the sorting hat would help me decide.”

“Well, maybe you’ll end up in Slytherin with me. Trust me, you don’t want to be in Ravenclaw, my brother says they never have any fun. Always studying.”

Astra chuckled. “Sounds about right. Maybe I will, who knows.”

“Well no matter which house you end up in, we should still be friends.”

“No matter which?” Astra asked, her eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, of course!” Evelyn insisted.

“Astra Bennett” the voice upfront boomed.

“Good luck!” Evelyn wished her new friend.

“You too!” Astra replied as she made her way up to the stage.

Evelyn crossed her fingers as Astra sat down, sorting hat placed upon her head. But her heart sank into her stomach when the hat bellowed out:

“GRYFFINDOR”

She watched Astra join the rowdy table of cheering Gryffindors, wishing she could have been put in any house other than the biggest rivals of Slytherin.

Finally, she heard her own name called. As the hat lowered, she found her head swimming with thoughts.

_Hmm, a difficult decision you have. A battle of brain and heart._

_What are you talking about?_ Evelyn asked the sorting hat.

_The drive is all here. Cunning, ambitious, resourceful, perfect candidate for Slytherin house. But then again...you wonder what could be if you were less...restricted. We could do something about that, you know. Greatness is already within you._

Her gaze flashed over to Astra, who was chatting with her new housemates, but obviously watching Evelyn out of the corner of her eye.

_That’s ridiculous. I’m not jeopardizing my future for a friend, for a girl I only just met._

_You’re sure? Final answer in? Okay, then, better be…_

“SLYTHERIN”

Her brother had a cheering section ready to go. Evelyn smiled and hopped off the stool to join them.

“I told you! Aren’t you excited?” he yelled, shaking her shoulders.

“Yeah. Of course,” Evelyn insisted. Was she? She thought this would feel more exciting. She glanced once more at the Gryffindor she had only just met and could not shake a little bit of sadness.

“Evelyn! Hey, wait up,” Astra called to her blond classmate.

“Oh, hi Astra.” Evelyn looked around herself, nervously.

“Congratulations on getting into Slytherin, you must be pretty excited. Which class are you headed to?”

“Potions, and yeah, it’s great. Just what I wanted,” Evelyn forced a smile.

“Me too, do you want to walk together?”

“Who are you talking to, Ev?” a nasally voice snapped from behind the two girls. “We need to get going or we’ll be late.”

“Right,” Evelyn nodded to the red-headed Slytherin. “Sorry, Astra, I was waiting to meet some housemates. Another time, maybe?”

“Oh, right. Sure”

Evelyn tried not to notice Astra watching her during potions. She tried to keep her eyes glued to her parchment and Professor Snape, but she could almost swear she could feel Astra watching her. By the end of class, she felt crummy for ignoring her. When she turned around to say something, though, Astra had already left. Scanning the hallway, it seemed like she had disappeared without a trace.

For the first couple of weeks, Evelyn had to actively avoid running into Astra. Eventually, they just drifted into their own social groups, each blending into the other’s background.


	2. Meeting Again

4 years later..

On her way back from the library one afternoon, Evelyn heard a somewhat familiar voice calling down the corridor near the Slytherin Common Room. 

“Artemis where are you? Ugh, you ridiculous creature.” 

Evelyn peered around the corner. A taller girl, in a dark red and gold striped sweater, dark hair plaited halfway down her back, stormed through, hands on her head in frustration.

“Hi….um, Astra?”

The dark haired girl spun on her heel.

“Evelyn.” She simply greeted in return, quickly turning back around to scan the corridor.

“What are you doing down here? Are you looking for something?”

“My cat. She got away from me, chasing some second year’s toad. I don’t know what has gotten into her.” 

“Do you want help looking for her?”

Astra looked at Evelyn incredulously. 

“Sure, I guess. I mean, you don’t have to, I’m sure I can find her myself.” Astra began walking down the dim hallway, until they reached the end and had to debate whether to go right or left.

Evelyn sighed, a little annoyed at the Gryffindor’s curt demeanor when she was offering her help.

“I know I don’t have to, but I don’t mind. What does she look like?”

“Dark grey. Yellow eyes. Should be easy to find in these catacombs.”

“Did you hear something down there?” Evelyn interrupted, pointing to their right.

They both quieted for a moment, then again heard something scratching. Astra squinted. 

“Lumos” Evelyn commanded, pulling her wand out, casting light to help them spot the camouflaged cat. Sure enough, a pair of yellow eyes flashed at them.

“Artemis!” Astra hissed. The misty grey cat looked around, then casually sauntered toward her owner. Astra sighed in exasperation as she picked up the feline, who craned her head towards Evelyn. The Slytherin smiled and held out her hand for Artemis to sniff, and, after approval, gave her head a scratch.

“Well, thanks for...your help” Astra mumbled, keeping her eyes on Artemis.

“No problem, glad we found her.” Evelyn replied, genuinely.

After an awkwardly long pause, Astra began to walk away. Evelyn debated saying something. Calling after her. Asking her to catch up on what she had been doing the past four years. But, by the time she thought about what she could say, the other girl was too far gone, disappearing down the dark hallway, on her way back to her own common room. She tried to let it go. They haven’t been friends all this time, why would she want to suddenly start now?

She could not let it go, though. The next day, she noticed Astra in the Great Hall at breakfast. It had been years since she last noticed her at a meal. For a moment, she thought Astra made eye contact with her, but then she waved at an approaching Hufflepuff. Surprisingly, she felt a little disappointed. 

Why couldn’t she shake this? She was still stuck in her head while walking to her Transfiguration class, not fully paying attention to where she was walking. 

“Oh!” parchments and books ended up on the floor as she slammed into a familiar taller dark haired student.

“Sorry!” the shorter blond Slytherin practically shouted. Of course she had just basically body-slammed the person on her mind. 

“It’s okay, it’s fine, I wasn’t really paying attention either” Astra stammered, turning red and hurriedly sorting out the books and parchments. “Here,” she said, shoving a pile towards Evelyn, “I think these are all yours.” 

“Great, thanks. Sorry again, honestly.” Evelyn insisted, she stood up first, extending a hand, but Astra was already hoisting herself up and rushing off. 

It wasn’t until later, after she walked to class in a daze, that Evelyn realized she had ended up with one of Astra’s books. Divination. Definitely not one of hers. She did not have time in her schedule for silly filler classes. But how would she return the book? She could just take it to the Divination classroom and leave it with Professor Trelawney. Although, much like the subject she instructed, Trelawney was a bit flighty and unreliable. What if she forgot who the book was left for? It’s not like she, a Slytherin, could just waltz up to the Gryffindor common room. No one would believe that she could be there for such an innocent task as returning a book. Evelyn decided she would just have to find Astra in a common place. Not the dining hall, that would be too common. Too many of her fellow Slytherins could see them talking. She would just have to follow her after dinner and try to corner her in an inconspicuous area. Simple.

“Ev, what are you staring at?” a jet haired Slytherin asked, “you’ve barely touched your food. Are you feeling ill or something?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing Nyx,” Evelyn tried to act nonchalant. “I was just thinking about that assignment from charms class. You know, how useless it is.” She added the last part, to satisfy her friend’s further skeptical face.

“Waste of time. Just like most of the professors and their dumb assignments. For a minute there I thought maybe you were staring at one of those loser Gryffindors.”

“Heh, no way.” Evelyn replied, shoveling some green beans into her mouth. She tried to begin engaging in some chit chat with her friends, but then noticed Astra standing up out of the corner of her eye. She stood up abruptly.

“Evelyn, bloody hell! You’re acting so odd tonight.” Nyx exclaimed.

“You know, I am feeling kind of off. I think I should probably just go lay down.” Evelyn replied as she backed up, trying to keep some of her focus on where Astra was headed.

“Yeah, you should. I’ll see you later when you’re not acting like such a basket case.”

Evelyn made sure to turn before rolling her eyes at her friend’s comment, and moved quickly to try and catch up with Astra, who was just leaving the great hall. Once she got out, she saw the Gryffindor heading towards the library. That was perfect. Hardly any Slytherins hung out in the library. She followed the other student, keeping a decent amount of distance, until they reached the library. Once inside, she searched the stacks until -

“Are you following me?”

She had turned a corner and was met with two narrowed eyes. She had never noticed the flicker of gold in those dark brown irises. But that was beside the point. Astra stood between the stacks, hand on her hips. 

“What, I, no - well, I mean yes, but” Evelyn stammered.

“Were you watching me at dinner, too?”

“Umm,” Evelyn couldn’t think up a lie quick enough, she hadn’t realized Astra even noticed that she was observing her.

“Why?” Astra demanded.

“I just,” Evelyn pulled the book out and held it in front of herself, defensively. “I wanted to return your Divination book.”

“Oh,” the other girl’s stance softened. “Thanks,” she said quietly, as she took the book from Evelyn. “Wait, you’ve had this on you, why didn’t you just give it to me at dinner?” 

“Well, I didn’t want...um”

“Didn’t want your friends to see you talking to me?” Astra’s stance hardened again. 

Evelyn stared at her shoes for an awkwardly long pause.

“You know what, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care what your friends think or what you think. So thanks for the book, you can go on with your night now.” Astra turned around and sat down in a huff. 

Evelyn turned and slowly walked out of the stacks of books. Her stomach felt like she had just eaten a liver flavored Bertie Botts bean. This was not how she imagined the exchange going. But then, what was she expecting? Did she think Astra would be so grateful that she would forget how Evelyn had given her the cold shoulder years ago and want to be friends? Did Evelyn actually want to be friends with her? Why else couldn’t she stop thinking about her? All of this thinking was giving her a throbbing headache. One that she hoped would go away after a good night's sleep. After all, there was a quidditch game the next morning, she had to go cheer her brother on.

The next morning she tried to get excited. She usually loved watching quidditch. Her brother was one of the best chasers in the school. He took after their uncle, Marcus Flint, who had been on the Slytherin quidditch team when he attended Hogwarts. Although rumor had it he did not exactly play by the rules to get ahead. Unfortunately this was not uncommon on the Slytherin team, but Evander was different. He actually had promising talent, without the need for cheating. There were even scouts coming to some of the games this year to possibly recruit him for one of the professional teams. Evander had his sights set on the Kenmore Kestrels of Ireland, with the hopes of then someday making it onto the Irish National team.

Of course, today’s match was against Gryffindor. It couldn’t be Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Evelyn just hoped she wouldn’t see Astra at the game. It seemed reasonable, with the stadium as large as it was. She wanted to simply enjoy watching the match without thinking about that Gryffindor.   
She found a spot next to her friends. They passed out their green pendants, getting each other hyped up as the announcer got started introducing the teams. Evelyn was not paying much attention to most of the pre-game announcements, but tuned in to a very important sentence.

“And on the Gryffindor team, we have a new addition. Appearing in her first game as keeper, Astra Bennett!” the voice boomed.

The crowd - minus the Slytherin students of course - went wild. Evelyn started clapping before she realized it. Her friend, Vespera, noticed and gave her a look. She quickly pretended to be vigorously warming her hands. 

Astra looked clearly nervous on her broom. Evelyn looked through her binoculars and could see her biting her lips, her eyes darting around. Though she cheered for her brother with her friends, internally she hoped that he would go easy on the new player. No such luck though. Evelyn could tell her brother was coming at Astra with everything he had. Just within the first 20 minutes of the game, he made 4 goals. Evelyn could see Astra’s confidence waver even more. 

Suddenly, the snitch appeared, flying in front of Evelyn’s row. Everyone else turned their focus and began cheering on the seekers. Evelyn kept her focus on the Gryffindor goal posts, and saw her brother approaching, but Astra was focusing on the other Slytherin chaser, Trinity Goyle. 

Quickly glancing around her, Evelyn confirmed everyone else’s attention was still on the snitch. She grabbed her wand, and with a speedy gesture, whispered “Confundo!” 

Just meters away from the hoops, Evander suddenly lost grip and fumbled the quaffle. After a split second he shook his head and managed to recover the ball with a deep swoop before it hit the ground, but when he re-emerged, Astra was ready and knocked his throw out of the way.

A smile broke out on Evelyn’s face before she could help herself. She soon sobered her expression and boo’d loudly in support of Evander, who looked a little shaken. A little bit of guilt grumbled inside her. It was not like her to break the rules or play unfairly, especially at her own brother’s expense. 

In the end, Slytherin still beat Gryffindor, and Evander still made plenty of goals for their team. After the game, he marched triumphantly with the rest of his team into the Slytherin common room.

“Didja see me out there little sis? Dmitri Carrow said he thought an agent for the Chudley Cannons was in the crowd. I reckon I gave a pretty good audition, don’t you think?”

Unimpressed at her brother’s usual bragginess, Evelyn couldn’t help asking, “what happened about a third of the way in, it looked like you dropped the quaffle or something?”

“Oh, that,” Evander brushed her off, “nothing really. Bit of dirt in my eye or something. Anyway, I still scored more points than Goyle. That Gryffindor twerp only blocked about five of my throws.”

“But who’s counting” Evelyn muttered. “At any rate, you were brilliant, as always.” 

Evander grinned and smacked her on the back before running off to gloat some more to a group of female Slytherins. This time Evelyn did not hold back rolling her eyes at her chronically flirtatious older brother.


	3. Forget me Nott

“Students!” Professor Slughorn announced. “I expect everyone’s potions to be finished and ready for inspection in 15 minutes. No exceptions.”

As he passed by her table, Slughorn paused and sighed, “You may want to double check your figures, Ms. Greengrass.”

“Huh?” Evelyn looked at her parchment, at the quantities she had transcribed. By the time she looked back up to ask the professor if he could tell her which numbers were wrong, he had already whisked away to attempt to assist a table of Hufflepuffs. 

Evelyn looked around the room, most students looked like they were struggling as much as she was with the assignment. They had to half a potion recipe, and factor in using a liquid, distilled root of asphodel when the instructions call for powdered root. She couldn’t help but notice one student who did not seem to be sweating.

Casually, Evelyn got up and walked over to Astra’s table. She cleared her throat. The other two Gryffindor students at the table looked up at Evelyn as if she had grown an extra head. Astra barely glanced past the Slytherin’s wrist.

Evelyn sighed and cleared her throat again. 

“Astra?”

The other girl finally stopped writing, set down her quil, and looked the standing girl in the eyes.

“What?” She asked.

“I was just wondering if you could help me with this conversion. Something just looks off to me.” Evelyn tried to sound nonchalant. 

Astra looked her up and down, trying to determine if this was somehow a trick. After exchanging looks with her friends, who merely shrugged in response, she hastily pulled Evelyn’s parchment toward herself. It took her a moment of scanning the scribbles, but she pointed at a spot on the page. 

“Here,” she explained, “you forgot to convert grams to ounces for the liquid asphodel.”

The Slytherin’s brow furrowed and she took back her parchment, studying her notes. 

“No, I definitely…” She trailed off when she found that simple error. “Oh”.

“Is that all?” Astra asked, impatiently.

Evelyn thought for a moment. Perhaps she should apologize for sneaking around to return Astra’s book. Or she could compliment her on her new position on the Quidditch team. She could say anything, really, instead of standing there awkwardly.

“No, I, uh...thanks for your help,” Evelyn spun around, before her cheeks could redden, to return to her seat and fix her potion. 

With Astra’s help, her potion passed muster, thankfully. Students in the other houses thought that Professor Slughorn went easy on his Slytherins, but truthfully, he had exceedingly high expectations of his students. Unlike her older brother, unfortunately, Evelyn was not particularly gifted in Potions. At least, not to the standards that Evander had set in Slughorn’s eyes. At least, for today, she was on the receiving end of a semi-approving head nod instead of the professor’s typical look, a mixture of confusion and disappointment. 

Once class was over with, Evelyn noticed Astra brush past her in a hurry to leave the classroom. Deciding she was being silly about all of this, she charged after her.

“Astra! Hey Astra, come on, wait up!”

Round a hallway, the taller Gryffindor stopped and spun around.

“What do you want? Why are you following me, again?”

“Nothing! I just want to talk to you.”

Astra stood, staring down the Slytherin.

“You just want to talk? Now?”

“Yes?” it sounded like a trick question to Evelyn. “Is now a bad time?”

“Now, after how many years, you want to actually talk to me?”

“Oh,” that’s what she meant “well, I...um..” Evelyn trailed off. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Did one of your friends put you up to this? Are you supposed to convince me to follow you to just talk while the others pull some nasty prank or something?”

“What? No, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, like you don’t know what that nitwit, Nyx did. Please.” Astra rolled her eyes, “so you think I’m a really gullible mudblood too then, is that it?”

“Astra, I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about and I would never -” Evelyn’s eyes widened at the use of that crass nickname for people with mixed magical and muggle lineage.

“Whatever. Just leave me alone. You and your Slytherin cronies.”

“But…” Evelyn attempted to convince Astra, but it was no use. The Gryffindor was gone in a flash, leaving the other girl completely dumbfounded. On the way back to her common room, she wracked her brain, trying to remember Nyx even hinting at some kind of prank against any Gryffindors lately, but she couldn’t think of any. And why wouldn’t Nyx tell her if she was going to pull something? Maybe Astra was confused.

“What are you doing talking to that blood-traitor?” Evander stopped his sister just after she entered the Slytherin common room.

Sweat dampened her brow. “What are you going on about?”

“Astra Bennett? That low-brow, American half-blood. Orianna McNair said she saw you talking to her.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re mental.” She shoved past him toward the girl’s dormitories.

With a huff, she sat down hard on her bed. This afternoon was not going at all the way she planned. Maybe she should just give up. Every time she had tried talking to Astra things just went awful and she ended up feeling even worse than she already did. 

Giggling from the room next door pulled her sharply out of her thoughts. Then she heard Nyx’s voice.

“That’s bloody brilliant, Vespera. We’ll do it when the mudblood leaves the Great Hall tonight after supper.”

That did not sound good. Evelyn wondered if she should interrupt and try to find out who they were talking about. What are the odds it would be Astra? And since when was tormenting muggle borns a hobby of her friend’s? Of course, no matter who the recipient, they probably knew that Evelyn would never join in, lest she risk getting any de-merits that could hurt her chances of making House Prefect. It still bothered her that her friends did not even tell her about it, though.

She pulled out one of her textbooks and pretended to be reading when Nyx, Vespera, and another Slytherin, Lucasta, came sauntering into the room.

“Nose in a book again, hmm? Our OWLs aren’t for weeks, you know.” Vespera teased.

“Oh, you know me. I like to be prepared,” Evelyn played along.

“Fancy putting the book down and coming to eat with us?” Nyx asked nonchalantly. It was getting to Evelyn even more, knowing that her friends were purposely hiding something from her. Still, she forced a smile and hopped off of her bed.

“Of course! Let’s go.” She tried not to seem too eager, but she really wanted to know what they were scheming.

Throughout their meal, Evelyn tried her best to suss out who they were planning to ambush, but they were not dropping any hints.

“So what are you ladies up to this evening. Anything...planned?” Evelyn asked, swirling some pumpkin juice around in her goblet.

Nyx and Vespera exchanged quick glances. 

“Oh, not much. Nothing really. Probably a pretty boring night.” Nyx replied, casually.

Vespera looked over her shoulder and gently nudged Nyx.

“You know,” Vespera said, looking at Nyx, “I’m feeling pretty tired. Nyx, should we turn in maybe?”

“It’s not like you to skip dessert,” Evelyn prodded, scanning the room. Sure enough, she saw Astra getting up to leave.

“I know, I’m just not feeling quite myself.”

“It’s no worries, I don’t mind walking back with you. I feel a bit tired myself. You two can stay.” Nyx replied a bit too earnestly.

With that the two left the table uncomfortably fast. Evelyn looked across at Lucasta, who was clearly in the role of keeping Evelyn distracted. That made sense. Evelyn did not see Lucasta as the type bold enough to partake in pranks or bullying, but she was also a notorious push-over. She had to do something to catch up with them and find out what they were up to.

“Actually, I have to use the loo.”

“Oh, I’ll come with you,” Lucasta awkwardly offered.

“Oh, no, don’t be silly. I know my way ‘round this castle well enough to find the loo! Save me some treacle? I’ll only be a minute.”

Lucasta nodded, nervously. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of a reason to prevent Evelyn from leaving the hall.

Once she was out of the dining area, she had to think fast. Luckily, she caught a glimpse of Vespera’s long curly red locks down a corridor, and hastened her steps in that direction. 

“Oy!” she heard a voice yell.

“Wingardium Leviosa” 

As she rounded the corner, she saw Nyx and Vespera, wands out. Nyx pointing at Astra, and Vespera pointing at a slowly rising bucket full of mud.

“You know what I hate about you people? You come in here, into our school and act like you’re one of us. You’re entitled. And yet, your own mother is a disgraceful blood traitor. Well, we think the whole school should see what a filthy mudblood you are.” Vespera cackled. The bucket began to levitate closer to Astra’s head. The Gryffindor squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of being drenched in mud.

“Reducto!” Evelyn jumped in, blasting the bucket into tiny pieces. Spinning around, she added “Expeliarmus” sending Vespera’s wand flying out of her hand. Astra took the moment of diversion to reach for her own wand and before Nyx could even think of a spell, she had both Evelyn and Astra’s wands pointing at her. Her hands raised, defensively.

“Merlin’s beard, can’t you take a joke? I can’t believe you’re defending this mud-”

“Don’t say it” Evelyn cut her off, taking another step with her wand steadily aimed at Nyx.

“Come on, Nyx, let’s just go.” Vespera tugged at her seething friend.

“You’re going to regret this.” Nyx hissed.

“Is that a threat? Do I look like someone you should be threatening right now?” Evelyn pressed her wand against the taller Slytherin’s cheek. “Vespera’s right. You should clear off and think about who the real entitled piece of dirt is.”

Nyx’s eyes narrowed. A comeback was in the works, but she thought better of it. Ultimately, she relented and defiantly sulked back to their dormitory. 

Astra leaned against the wall and exhaled heavily. Once the two Slytherin were out of sight, Evelyn finally relaxed and lowered her wand.

“So, either your conscience caught up with you, or you really didn’t know that you’re best friends have been trying to make my life hell lately.”

“I didn’t, honestly. And I wouldn’t exactly call them my best friends. Maybe not even friends, anymore.”

“Come on, you really had no idea? They’re like, two of the meanest girls in Slytherin. And that’s saying something. No offense.”

“None taken,” Evelyn replied, dryly. She leaned against the wall next to Astra and sighed. “I know they’re mean. They weren’t always so bad. The two of them went on holiday with some 7th years two summers ago and they just haven’t been the same. Everything now is about their appearance, looking cool, feeling better than everyone else. I guess I kind of ignore some of the things they do that I don’t...approve of. But I didn’t think they would go this far, singling you out, ganging up on you. What is it that they did before?”

Astra stared at her shoes, clenching her jaw. “They wrote ‘the flying mudblood’ on my new broom, right before the Quidditch game.”

“That’s awful. I’m sorry they did that.” 

Astra finally looked up at the blond Slytherin next to her. “Thank you,” she put a hand on Evelyn’s shoulder, causing her pulse to suddenly race. 

“Of course,” she straightened up, clearing her throat, “I mean, it’s no big deal.”

“Yeah, okay.” Astra replied sarcastically, “you just come charging in with defensive charms at the ready and make two bullies turn tail and run, but it’s no big deal.”

“Do you...want me to walk you to your common room?” Evelyn offered.

“No, I’m fine. Really. Thanks.”

After a clumsy parting of ways, the girls each rushed back to their respective dormitories. Evelyn hurried into her shared room, trying to avoid any of her peers along the way. Luckily, she did not share a room with Nyx or Vespera, although she did bunk with Lucasta. It was pretty obvious that she was pretending to be asleep when Evelyn got back.

The next morning she managed to continue avoiding select students by skipping breakfast and going to her first class extra early. It was going well, until it came time for passing time.

Out of the corner of her eye, Evelyn could see her brother headed towards her. She tried to hurry to the girl’s bathroom, but he caught up with her before she made it through the door. Nabbing the back of her robe, he stopped her from continuing to avoid him.

“Evie, come on, you can’t hide from me forever. I am your only brother, you know.”

His younger sister sighed and turned around.

“Go on,” she said, resigned.

“So I’m the mental one? You lied to me, and I heard it from more credible sources this time.”

“Did Nyx and Vespera tell you?” 

“Yeah, they did. You turned on your own friends?”

“Hey, I did them a favor. You know Headmistress McGonagall does not tolerate attacks on muggle born students. If she found out they would have cost us at least 200 house points.”

Evander shook his head, not buying her rationalization. 

“I just don’t get it. Why do you care? You ought to at least have standards” Evander sneered.

“Why is everyone so harsh to her? I mean, there are loads of muggle born students here at Hogwarts, and she’s not even really muggle born! If her father was muggle born but her mother wasn’t then that makes her half pure.” 

“Really, sis. You shouldn’t be fraternizing with her. She may have wizarding blood, but her mother caused loads of drama in their family, and other pure blood families are not too keen on associating with them.”

“Why? Just because her mother married a muggle born?”

“Blimey, do you not know who Astra Bennett’s mother is?” 

Evelyn shook her head in earnest. Evander sighed, annoyed that he had to explain all of this to his sister.

“She’s a Nott. Amelia Nott, before she took her husband’s name. How is it you know nothing about this girl you’re all of a sudden so sweet on?”

“Nott? As in Theodore Nott?” Evelyn purposefully ignored the second part of her brother’s question. “You mean she’s related to the author of…”

“The sacred twenty eight. That’s right. She cost the family their blood status and, well, let’s just say there are an awful lot of ruffled pure feathers. The Nott’s have a large family, they essentially all turned their back on Amelia.”

“But that was years ago, surely people have to start getting over it at some point, right?”

“That’s the thing, you see, they only discovered it this past year. Her mother married an American, but she never told anyone he was muggle born. Well, her grandfather passed away in July, and now the family is trying to exclude Amelia from her inheritance with this new information coming to light.”

“How do you even know all of this? From Nyx and Vespera?”

“Don’t be silly. I do my best to avoid listening to the drivil they go on about. Although, I do think Vespera is an indirect relative. But I heard this from mum, you know her cousin Delphine married a Nott.”

“But, I mean, this doesn’t really affect us. We’re not related to them” 

“Even so, I really think it’s best you keep your distance. You don’t want to make friends with the wrong sort.”

“I didn’t ask you for advice.” Evelyn replied, stiff lipped.

“Well I’m giving it to you anyway. Stay away from her. She’s not worth it.” Evander ordered with a solemn expression. Evelyn turned and left in a huff. She was so tired of her know-it-all brother trying to tell her what to do. For the rest of the school day, she kept her head down, ignored little wads of paper that kept hitting her from the direction of Nyx’s desk in Defense against the Dark Arts, and just focused on her schoolwork.

Evelyn kept to her room for most of the evening, as well. After hearing the majority of her housemates leaving for supper right at the start, she figured if she waited a while she could avoid running into any undesirables. Near the end of meal time, she covertly snuck into the dining hall, just as Vespera and Nyx were leaving. No sign of her brother either. She couldn’t help noticing that Astra was still in the dining hall, and had definitely made split second eye contact when Evelyn walked in, before turning back to picking at her dinner. Evelyn tried to simply eat as quickly as she could, only glancing toward the Gryffindor table a couple of times. Each time, it seemed Astra had the same pudding on her plate that had just been moved around. Finally, she finished and rushed out of the room.

Not too long after she had left, she realized that someone was following her.

“Hey, Evelyn,” Astra caught up with her in the hall. “Can I talk to you? Somewhere private and...neutral?” Her head motioned in the direction of the library.

“Sure,” Evelyn hesitantly followed Astra’s lead. They found a quiet stack, fairly removed from most of the other students at work. “What’s going on?”

“I just,” Astra began, pausing to think of how to phrase her question. “You know I appreciate what you did the other night, you said it was no big deal, but I know that’s not true.”

“Well, I guess” Evelyn conceded, “I mean, I don’t really want to be friends with people who can be so narrow minded.”

“Why do you care so much, all of a sudden?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “You snubbed me first year to suck up to those harpies, why the change of heart. Why would you side with me over them?”

Against her better judgement, Evelyn quickly leaned in and locked lips with a bewildered Astra. The two girls held in a deep kiss. For a long pause, the rest of Evelyn’s world melted away, and there was only the dark haired girl with impossibly soft lips.

Eventually, they had to come back to reality.

“Oh,” Astra said, taking a deep breath.

“Yeah.” Evelyn replied, equally breathless. “I should have asked first,” she added apologetically.

“I probably would have thought it was a trick if you did.” Astra lightly chuckled. “So,” her voice trailed off.

“What now?” Evelyn finished the thought.

“Indeed. What now?”

“I didn’t think that far ahead.” Evelyn admitted.

“We hardly even know each other.”

“I know how I feel when I’m near you; when I think about you.”

“So...what, you want us to, like, date or something?”

“Well, kind of, maybe?” Evelyn replied, but seeing the panic in Astra’s face, backtracked “maybe not?” 

“Aren’t you worried about what your friends will say. Your brother?”

“A little bit. But what about you? You haven’t said anything about how you feel.” Evelyn probed. The moments of silence that followed churned her insecurities. This made her feel even more anxious than the thought of anyone finding out who she was kissing in the library.

Finally Astra replied, “How do I feel? I feel like electrical currents run through my body whenever you talk to me. Singing in my fingertips when we touch. And when we kissed...well…”

She covertly pulled out her wand and whispered “Periculum” shooting a small fountain of fireworks out. She quickly stashed it back in her robe when the librarian peered down the aisle. The two stifled a giggle. 

“So you didn’t mind it, then?” 

Astra pulled Evelyn back in for a second, breathless, kiss.

“No, definitely not,” Astra replied after they released, gazing into Evelyn’s grey eyes and smiling. After a moment, her smile fell, “but I don’t know how this would work. You must know how people feel about my family right now. I know kids are talking about it.”

“Well, why does anyone else need to know anyway? It could be our secret, just for us,” Evelyn slipped her slight, pale hand into Astra’s.

The other girl chewed on the fingernails of her other hand. “I suppose,” she agreed, “I mean, we don’t even know for sure what we’re...doing, right? Why make a big deal out of it right away?”

“Exactly. Now we just need to find somewhere a little more private to meet. I mean, the library is not exactly buzzing with foot traffic, but it’s still a little risky.”

“What about the first floor girl’s lavatory?” Astra suggested.

“I don’t know. It is usually pretty quiet, but you know Myrtle is a nosy blabbermouth. We’d never get any privacy!”

“Oh, good point. I just can’t think of anywhere else on school grounds.”

“Well, let’s both give it some thought, and meet back here, maybe the same time tomorrow night? This seems like a particularly quiet time to be here, even given that it’s the library.”

“Okay, that sounds like a plan.” Astra stood up, preparing to leave. “What do we do in the meantime, though. If we see each other in class or in the hallways, do we just pretend not to?”

“I think that’s best - for now, anyways. Why don’t you leave first and I’ll wait a minute before I head out.”

“Sure,” Astra confirmed. She started walking out of the stacks, but turned around and quickly ran back to plant another on a surprised Evelyn. “One more. A kiss goodnight.” She added with a wink.

More than a minute went by, Evelyn revelled in that kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

When she awoke in the morning, for a moment, she wondered if she had dreamed the whole thing. Did she really kiss Astra? A Gryffindor? 

One fleeting glance in the dining hall was all it took to confirm she really had not dreamt that kiss. Even from a distance, she could see the other girl’s face redden, and felt blood rushing to her own cheeks as well.

Classes could not possibly pass any slower. Every minute felt like an hour. 

Finally, it was supper time. Evelyn had never looked forward to a meal so much in her life. Of course, it wasn’t the food itself, but knowing who she would be meeting afterwards. 

These clandestine meetings were the highlight of Evelyn’s days. Nearly every evening, except for nights when Astra had late Quidditch practice, the two met in the library. Sometimes they actually studied; Evelyn even looked forward to homework if it meant she was doing it with Astra. Sometimes they did more than study. They shared their interests, goals, desires. They spoke of nearly everything except for their respective families. Evelyn knew sooner or later it would have to come up, but why spoil a good thing right away? 

The snogging was a plus too. Why had no one told her how amazing that was? Evelyn had not really dated anyone yet. Between classes, preparing for her OWLS, and summer internships with the Ministry, she simply had never made time for more than surface level friendships. Judging her boy-crazy peers, dating seemed like a frivolous distraction. After all, who finds their soulmate at 15? 

She had to admit, she was enjoying the depth and richness this relationship was developing. With Astra, she felt like she could let go and be herself. Astra listened to her and didn’t judge, didn’t tease. Most students, and even professors, when she told them her aspirations of Minister of Magic, would reply with something patronizing (“oh, that’s going to be a lot of work”) or chuckle at her ambition, or glazed over if she were to go into detail on how one, in fact, reaches that title. One afternoon Astra asked her what she wanted to do after Hogwarts and Evelyn pondered her response. 

“Well, I don’t know if you know this, but my great-great-great-great Grandmother was Josephine Flint, a Minister of Magic in the 1800’s. Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to be Minister as well. I’ll need to get a job in the Ministry, of course, and work my way up to it, but...well. I have plans.” Evelyn stopped to take a breath and cautiously look up at Astra’s face.

“You’d make a brilliant Minister of Magic,” Astra replied. “You already know more about history and rules and all than some of our professors.”

“Thank you,” Evelyn blushed. “What about you, have you thought about what you would like to do?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet. I do like healing; I’m rather decent with potions I suppose. I have considered working for the Ministry as well, perhaps in the department of International Magical Cooperation.”

“Wouldn’t it be something if we both worked for the Ministry?”

Astra smiled in return.

Things were going so well for a few weeks, until one night, when Evelyn and Astra were just settling in.

“What is he doing here?” Evelyn gasped.

Astra turned and looked around. Before she could ask “who?” Evelyn had slipped under the desk.

“What are you -”

“Shhh! I’m not here.” Evelyn interrupted her.

Astra looked over her shoulder and finally saw who Evelyn was hiding from. A lanky, pale, blond Slytherin with familiar steel grey eyes approached their stacks.

“Oh, it’s you,” Evander sneered, looking around impatiently. “I could have sworn I saw my sister come this way. She wasn’t with you, was she?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“No, of course not. I haven’t seen her, but if I do I’ll tell her you’re looking.” Astra feigned ignorance.

Evander huffed and left in long, frustrated strides.

Once the coast was clear, Astra motioned for Evelyn to come out of hiding. 

“That was close,” Evelyn said as she breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Yeah.” Astra agreed. “Do you think maybe we should make...some kind of change? We already knew the library was not the perfect meeting place. Maybe we should keep looking for somewhere more private, or…” she trailed off.

“Or what? Evelyn panicked, thinking that Astra was about to suggest they stop seeing each other. 

“Or maybe we stop hiding?” She finished her thought meekly, knowing that it might not be well received by Evelyn.

“Oh, um. Right. I suppose those are the options right now.”

“You do want to keep doing...this, right?” Astra asked.

“Yes, absolutely. I don’t want to stop as long as you don’t.”

“Okay, then. When we meet tomorrow, we’ll each have a suggestion.”

Evelyn trudged back towards the Slytherin common room. Where in the castle could they meet where no one would find them? That was also not out of bounds?

Feeling the weight of this seemingly impossible task, she leaned against the cold, stone, hallway wall and closed her eyes.

A strange sensation behind her back caused her to open her eyes, when she turned around, she saw a large, heavy wooden door had materialized out of the stone.

Gingerly, she touched the brass handle. Could it be? Could she have found it?

Pulling the heavy door open, a smile broke out on her face. 

She did not wait to meet Astra in the library the next night. Her excitement could not be contained for that long. Instead, she intercepted her just out of the great hall after supper.

“Astra, you won’t believe it. I found it!”

“Found what?”

“The room of requirement!” Evelyn practically squealed.

Astra’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s amazing!”

Evelyn pulled Astra by the hand and ran. Gasps escaped from their lips. 

Inside the room were fairly modest furnishings; a small table with a couple of chairs, an old floral sofa, large candelabras already alit.

“Cozy,” Evelyn said with a grin.

“Very,” agreed Astra, pulling Evelyn toward the couch. Giggling, the two tumbled on top of one another on the couch, with Astra on top. Strands of dark, wavy hair fell around Evelyn’s face as she lay under the most magical creature she had ever seen.

“You are more radiant than a phoenix,” she murmured, gently tucking the hair behind Astra’s ear. The Gryffindor nuzzled into Evelyn’s neck, breathing in deeply and stroking her pale cheek.

Hands caressing arms, lips pressing together earnestly, bodies intertwining. New levels of intimacy and closeness. Warmth spread through Evelyn’s body, from the top of her head to the tips of her fingers. 

Evelyn floated back to the Slytherin dormitories. Her high was short lived, when she entered and found her brother waiting for her. He was not going to ruin this day completely, though. Nothing could.

“Fancy seeing you here?”

“How’s that?”

“Where is it you keep disappearing to in the evenings? I could have sworn I saw you going into the library yesterday, but I couldn’t find you.”

“Why’s it any of your business?” Evelyn deflected.

“Just odd is all. You’re not up to anything, are you?” 

“I’m not up to anything, and you don’t need to worry about me.”

Evander held up his hands, defensively. Evelyn started walking towards her room, but was confronted a second time, by Nyx and Vespera.

“Keeping secrets from big brother? Whatever could that be?” Vespera asked.

“Mind your own business,” Evelyn sneered.

The two Slytherin girls exchanged eye rolls and proceeded to barrel past Evelyn, knocking her shoulders.

Not deterred, Evelyn ran the rest of the way to her bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, her eyes closed and she re-lived the blissful hour she had spent in the room of requirement. Tomorrow was another late Quidditch practice, but the day after it was planned for the girls to meet again.


	5. Happy endings

Evelyn barely touched her plate that night, so anxiously waiting for Astra to get up and leave her table. Usually both students inhaled their food so they could leave as soon as possible. This time, something was off. Astra was barely picking at her dinner, barely looking up from her plate. When she finally did finish, she got up with her friends and trudged out of the great hall. Confused, Evelyn got up to follow Astra right away instead of waiting for the typical 20 seconds. Something just did not feel right.

They made it almost all the way to the Gryffindor common rooms, where Evelyn had to duck around a corner, so it would not seem like she was following them. Right before she did, Astra definitely looked over her shoulder and saw her there, but did and said nothing. After the group went inside, Evelyn hung back for a few minutes, hoping Astra would come back out and offer up some kind of explanation. Eventually, she gave up and went back to her own part of the castle. 

Confused and defeated, she started racking her brain for any clues that she had done something wrong. Hadn’t Astra seemed as equally excited to see her again when they parted the other night? Were they moving too fast? Had she suddenly lost interest? Was Evelyn bad at snogging? 

She had to know.

All throughout potions class the following day, Evelyn kept trying to subtly get Astra’s attention. It was pretty obvious that Astra was intentionally ignoring her, and Evelyn was not going to wait around forever trying to figure it out. As soon as class was dismissed, she ran after Astra and pulled her to the side of the hall.

“Astra! What happened? Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m sorry, I just...I don’t think it’s a good idea anymore,” Astra stammered, her eyes shifting around nervously.

“But why? Was it something I did? Something I said?” Evelyn implored.

Astra’s eyes stopped looking about and focused on something just behind Evelyn.

“I’m sorry, Ev. I just can’t,” Astra said with tears in her eyes. 

Curious as to what Astra had been looking at, she glanced over her shoulder. Standing awkwardly next to the door, Vespera stood twirling her wand in her hands, a little too casually. Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. It seemed too coincidental.

Later, at lunch, Evelyn watched both of her prior friends and the Gryffindor table. For the most part, they kept to themselves, but there was a moment when she saw them make eye contact. Undeniably. Vespera glared, Astra shifted her gaze down quickly, the red-haired Slytherin noticed Evelyn watching her and quickly looked back at her own plate. Still not exactly hard evidence. When she finished, Evelyn left the great hall, but she did not go far. She lingered by the doors, at just the right angle to see the Gryffindor table. Moments after Astra got up to leave, Evelyn could see that Nyx and Vespera also got up to follow. Evelyn ducked behind a couple of Hufflepuffs, but kept an eye on the three, giving them just enough of a head start that she could catch up, unnoticed.

“I did what you said.” She heard Astra say. “Please just leave me alone.”

“You know, I thought that ruining things for you and Evelyn would bring me joy, but it just doesn’t.” Vespera sighed. “I think now that you have so much more time on your hands, you could probably squeeze in my history of magic homework as well.”

“What the bloody hell?!” Evelyn shrieked, charging straight at Vespera. Not bothering with wands, she went straight for that curly red hair, grabbing a fistful. The two tousled, grabbing and shoving, until Nyx and Astra were able to pull them apart. 

“This was your doing?” Evelyn pointed her finger at the panting Slytherin. 

Vespera straightened up and adjusted her sweater.

“She saw us,” Astra explained quietly, “She said that she was going to tell your brother, and the whole of Slytherin house unless I totally cut off contact with you, that she’d recruit anyone she could think of to make my life hell.” 

“I’d like to say ‘I can’t believe you’, but we all know that would be a lie. Still, I wouldn’t have figured you for blackmail. You foul gargoyle.” 

“Typical high and mighty Evelyn. Do you really think you’ll ever achieve anything associating with this sort? Do you really think that your however many great grandmother Josephine got to Minister of Magic by pandering to mudbloods and blood traitors?”

“That was a different time, Vespera, most purebloods felt that way back then.”

“And for good reason. They come into our world and pollute it. They act like they deserve a place here as much as someone with generations of magic.”

“Vespera, nobody chooses the family they were born into, including you.” 

That caught the Slytherin off guard. Nyx’s eyes widened. Only a small group of friends knew how miserable Vespera’s home life was. That she was never asked to come back for Christmas holiday, and was lucky to get a card clearly filled out by the house elf on her birthday. Her parents were far too busy, far too important, she would say. But it was a lie, to them and to herself.

“Ev, I’m sorry about all of this,” Astra said. “I understand if you don’t want to keep seeing me. I -” 

“Do you not want to be with me? Is it that easy just to give this up?” Evelyn cut her off, still a little riled up from the two Slytherins, who were glad for the deflection and morbidly hoping the love birds would self-destruct.

“What? No not at all. I just care about you and I don’t want to ostracize you from your house, or your family, or stand in the way of your dreams.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Evelyn said, lowering her voice again and stepping toward Astra. “Ever since that day in the corridor, looking for your ridiculous cat, I haven’t dreamt of anything but you.”

“Oh, Ev.” Astra flushed fiercely, accepting Evelyn into her arms.

“Puke” Vespera sneered.

“Do you mind? Go terrorize some Frankie First Year, will ya? And do your own damn homework!” Astra hollered at the two other Slytherins, who were already sauntering away. Turning her attention back to the clear, captivating eyes in front of her, she paused to study them briefly, before pulling Evelyn in for a deep kiss. 

“So what now?” Astra interrupted their kiss as her thoughts caught up with her.

“Huh?” Evelyn whispered dreamily, leaning in for more kissing.

“Ev, you don’t think they’re going to keep this to themselves, do you? What are you going to do? What are we going to do?”

“Um, keep snogging?” Evelyn grinned. 

“You’re not worried at all?” Astra furrowed her brow, keeping Evelyn at arms length until she could manage a full, coherent sentence. 

Evelyn sighed, “I don’t know. Yes, and no. Of course I’m a little worried, but knowing those two are probably already spreading the gossip...well...it’s kind of out of my hands.”

“You’re sure you’re okay with this? No more hiding? No going back?”

“Are you sure?” Evelyn chuckled. “Are you sure you’re only worried about what my family will think?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think my parents won’t mind. As for my friends, well, I hope they wouldn’t be so superficial to write you off just because you’re a Slytherin.” Astra tried to sound sure of herself.

“Okay then.” Evelyn took a small step towards Astra.

“Okay then” Astra echoed.

“So, about that snogging,” Evelyn grinned, taking another step toward the Gryffindor.

Astra smirked and grabbed Evelyn’s robes, pulling her in.

Eventually, the two knew they ran the risk of getting caught out of bed after hours, and had to return to their dormitories.

“I wish we could just keep doing this all night” Astra sighed, leaning her head on Evelyn’s chest.

“I wish I could just take you back with me,” smiled Evelyn.

“If only I had an invisibility cloak,” Astra winked.

They said their reluctant goodnights and split paths to hurry to bed. Evelyn took a deep breath, planning on sprinting straight to her room as soon as she got into the Slytherin dormitory. After just a few quick strides, however, a tall figure stepped in front of her, causing Evelyn to run right into his chest.

“Dear sister,” a low voice whispered, “we need to have a talk.” Evander pulled the stunned witch towards the sitting area. All but one student was already in bed. The one first year left, reading on a dusty, green couch, looked up at the two of them. They stayed in uncomfortable silence for an absurdly long moment before Evander hissed “get out!”, causing the student to nearly drop his book before taking off running.

“Sit,” Evander commanded, shoving Evelyn to the couch.

“Bloody hell, what’s gotten into you?” Evelyn snapped.

“I ought to ask you the very same. You lied to me, didn’t you?” Evander asked through clenched teeth. “Again, and again, you lied. I knew something was going on between the two of you. You actually fancy her? Are you barking mad?”

“I just…” Evelyn stared at her shoes and drew a breath of courage, “I think I love her. I think I always have, from the first time I saw her.”

“Bollocks! You can’t possibly know her well enough to be in love.” Evander threw his arms in the air, raising his voice in frustration.

“Oh, I should take dating advice from you, then? How many insipid Quidditch fans have you snogged this year? When was the last time you went steady with the same girl for more than a month? Real love expert you are!” Evelyn shot back, her face flushed with indignation at her brother’s attack. 

“We’re not talking about me, here, and at least I don’t fool myself into thinking I can get serious with some mixed blood witch who Mother and Father will never approve of” He began to pace in front of the couch. Evelyn gasped at the low blow. “There are plenty of eligible Slytherin boys - or girls rather, if that is your thing now. But of all the girls, of all the GRYFFINDORS, why her?”

Evelyn jumped to her feet. She’d had enough of his ranting and lecturing.

“How dare you bring mum and dad into this. This is my life, and my choice. You’re either with me or against me, brother.” Evelyn waited for a reply, but, getting only stone-faced silence, she pushed past him and stormed up to her room, tears stinging her eyes. 

It’s not as if she expected her brother to jump for joy; she knew how he felt about Astra and her family. Still, she had hoped that he would be more supportive of his only sister. 

The next morning Evelyn jumped out of bed and hastily threw on her clothes. She wanted to have as much time as possible with Astra at breakfast before they had to part ways for their first classes of the day. She focused all her energy on getting ready and tried not to give credence to any anxiety she had. 

In the great hall, she waited near the entrance, too excited to sit. She purposely stood with her back to Slytherin table, not wanting to see any dirty looks that might come her way. Finally, she spotted Astra walking in. A smile erupted before she could help herself, but wavered slightly when she noticed there were two less-than-friendly looking Gryffindors flanking Astra, who returned the beaming smile. 

“Evelyn, this is Kalinda and Milly. We’ve bunked together since first year.” 

“Pleased to meet you both,” Evelyn outstretched her hand confidently.   
Astra cleared her throat in the moment of awkward silence while Evelyn’s hand lingered mid-air. Finally the two Gryffindors reluctantly shook Evelyn’s hand and mumbled half-hearted pleasantries. Not to be intimidated, Evelyn turned towards the Gryffindor table. 

“You promised!” Evelyn overheard Astra whisper loudly behind her while they walked over to the table. 

“Sorry” “Alright alright” Followed whispers from her two friends. Evelyn took a deep breath as she sat down, hoping the rest of breakfast would not be so awkward. 

They started out quite standoffish, but once they all started eating and talking, the other Gryffindors rather quickly warmed up to Evelyn. They were certainly more pleasant than Vespera and Nyx. Evelyn appreciated morning chatter that was not purely gossip or talking poorly behind other students backs. 

As they parted to walk to their classes, Astra lingered a moment to say goodbye to her friends. Kalinda said something that made Astra beam. 

“What?” Evelyn asked quizzically when Astra joined her to walk. “What did she say?”

“Oh, Kalinda just said, well, she could see why I’ve taken a fancy to you. I knew you’d win them over,” she grinned, giving Evelyn’s arm a squeeze. Evelyn grinned and blushed fiercely. 

She just barely made it to her first class on time, lingering as long as possible outside of Astra’s classroom before running to the greenhouse. Luckily, Professor Sprout was already too busy wrestling with a young, but hearty Venomous Tentacula to notice her slipping in. After only half listening to most of the lecture, she bolted from her desk as soon as the professor excused them to rush down to Trelawney’s room, just with enough time to casually lean against the hallway wall to wait for Astra to walk out. 

Astra practically floated toward Evelyn, quickly intertwining their fingers.

“I thought that class would never end,” she sighed.

“Well, I’m not surprised there, it is Divination,” Evelyn joked, “at least our next class is Potions together. Suppose now that I’m dating the head of class my work will improve?”

“Ah, I see. The truth comes out,” Astra teased along.

Their jovial spirits halted short, when a husky voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd in front of them. 

“Oy, if it isn’t Evie the lezzie. Off to shag your mudblood girlfriend?” Cackles erupted from other students in the hall, egging him on. Evelyn’s heart started pounding as she and Astra tried to walk past. 

“Shove off, Fergus” Evelyn muttered.

The larger Slythering blocked her, though, continuing his taunting, this time targeting Astra. 

“Ambitious, aren’t we. Think you can improve your status by gettin’ with a Greengrass? Wonder who you had to kiss up to to make the Quidditch team?”

“No need to be jealous just because she can fly circles around you,” Evander strode through the crowd, his voice booming over the quickly dissipating laughter. “Still sore about not making the team this year?” He faked a look of pity. One of the taller Slytherins behind Fergus stifled a snigger. 

“Oh, come on Evander, it’s just wrong, isn’t it. Member of your family ought to be more selective, shouldn’t she? Ought to look into some pure stock.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively in Evelyn’s direction.

“Eat slugs!” Evander hollered, waving his wand furiously. Almost immediately, Fergus’ face turned several shades of sickly green, he turned and heaved a wet, slimey grey slug onto one of his friends’ shoes. A mixture of giggles and sounds of disgust surrounded them. 

“And here I thought there couldn’t possibly be anything more disgusting to come out of your mouth” Evander leaned in and smacked the heaving boy on the back. He straightened up and faced the crowd. “Anyone else have something smart to say?” 

A few exchanged nervous glances, but most of the students quickly scurried off. Evander nabbed one by the robe. 

“Nigel,” he hissed, “unless you want to get booted from the Quidditch team and join your puking mate in the bleachers, I’d suggest you rethink how you lot treat my sister.” 

The tall, curly haired boy swallowed hard and nodded, before running off with the rest. Evelyn couldn’t help but notice Vespera and Nyx joining the ones running off. Beyond shooting them an especially dirty look, she decided not to waste her energy on them. 

Evelyn turned her attention to Astra, taking her hand.

"You ok?" She asked earnestly.

"Yeah, I'm ok. It'll be fine, Ev, eventually people will move on, you know? More exciting gossip will come along, it always does."

"I know." Evelyn agreed.

"Don't you worry sis, I've got my beaters on watch." Evander gestured to two strapping lads behind him, arms crossed in front of their chests. "They hear, see, or even smell any funny business and they'll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Evander.” Evelyn replied, acknowledging the beaters as well, “Hugo, Titus.” 

The stoic students nodded in reply. Evelyn knew them through Evander, all three of them joined the team at the same time, and everyone knew they were the driving force behind Evander being selected for team captain. Unlike Evander, they were notoriously not much for talking. Astra also gave them a small, slightly intimidated wave. She recognized Titus as the last face she saw before taking a bludger to her broom at the most recent Quidditch match. 

“Anyway,” Astra tried to break the tension. “To Potions?” 

“Yes, to Potions,” Evelyn agreed. 

When Evelyn returned to the Slytherin common room later in the afternoon, to drop off her books, she saw her brother sitting by the fireplace.

“No ambush this time?” she teased.

“No, not this time.” He said solemnly. 

“Vander” Evelyn said, gently, sitting down beside him and gingerly squeezing his hand.

“Sis, you know I love you. You’re my number one mate. And you’ve always had my back. Remember when Professor Sprout accused me of transplanting one of the other student’s Mandrakes last year? You were the only one who believed I planted that blasted root and managed not to muck it up instead of stealing someone else’s.” Evander looked over at his sister with a soft smile. “To hell with what anyone thinks. Including mum and dad. I’m sorry I was such a wanker.”

“Oh well that’s nothing new,” Evelyn grinned and elbowed him.

“Forgive me, then?”

“Of course! Walk with me to dinner?” 

“Sure. You know, I have had my eye on someone lately. You’ll never guess who.” Evander said slyly, as they rose to walk to the Great Hall.

“Oh, it couldn’t possibly be Penelope Parkinson, could it?”

“How on Earth did you know?” 

“You’re so transparent. You always get so boastful when she’s around and you try to pretend like you don’t notice her but you stare when she’s not looking.”

“Well of all the ridiculous…” Evander feigned offense.

“While you’re so busy pretending not to be interested in her, she is giving you googly eyes and desperately trying not to be too obvious.”

“Fascinating,” Evander stroked his chin, “tell me more.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes, but obliged, spilling everything she knew on their walk to the Great Hall. 

They parted at the Great Hall, Evander striding to the Slytherin table, causing a few of the students associated in the earlier altercation to nervously shift towards the end of the long table. No sooner had Evelyn begun looking around the room for Astra, a pair of hands clamped over her eyes.

“Guess who?” a voice excitedly whispered in her ear. The sweetest voice she had ever heard. Evelyn smiled and spun around to see Astra giggling behind her. She snuck a quick peck on her blushing cheek, glancing around to make sure no one was staring.

“Looks like you and your brother have patched things up?”

“Oh yeah, we’re good. He just needed time to come ‘round. I don’t know how anyone in their right mind couldn’t come to love you,” she smiled.

“Awe, such a sweet talker,” Astra replied. “You know, I grabbed us a couple of Cornish pasties. I don’t know about you, but I’m not too terribly hungry.”

“Oh, me neither,” Evelyn played along, “I suppose we don’t really need to stay and eat here.”

“Yeah, I thought we could just eat these and find somewhere a little more…”

“Private?” Evelyn finished the thought, eyebrow raised.

Astra winked in reply and started walking back towards the door. Evelyn did not need to be told twice, she was quickly at Astra’s side, hand in hand. 

“It feels nice, doesn’t it?” Evelyn sighed.

“What?” Astra asked.

“Walking down the corridor, holding your girlfriend's hand.”

“Feels brilliant,” Astra agreed, giving her hand a squeeze.


End file.
